We can look beyond the traditional vocabulary list and explore new strategies to teach vocabulary. Vocabulary needs to be taught at the same time as content.
STRATEGIES TO BUILD VOCABULARY for ESL Students
Flyswatter
Separate the class into two teams and give a volunteer from each team a flyswatter. Place on the overhead projector, an overhead of vocabulary words or terms that you want to review with the students. Write the terms on the board if you don’t have a projector. This game is a great way to review concepts with students for a test and trains them to scan the overhead for the term they need. In an English 9 class, I put up an overhead of literary terms and say to the contestants “This is the term where something is being compared to something else with the word like or as”. The students run up to the board and the first one to gently hit the word smile on the overhead wins. The teacher also can create bonus marks by asking the students to give an example of a simile. This game can more cooperative by letting the students run back to their group to get help on what to hit. Students get very excited about this game and they don’t even realize that they are learning as they do it.
The Rules:
Everyone participates.
No yelling out the answer to your teammate or the other team gets the point.
No pushing the other student playing with you in fact no contact at all.
The class needs to listen to the clues from the teacher.
If it gets too rowdy threaten to end all games in the future and then the students will settle down.
Vocabulary sticks in their minds and when they read they retain the information. Students who get restless from sitting down in class for 90 minutes enjoy the change to get up and be active. The overhead can be filled with words or with images. I use it a lot in Spanish and English classes and it can be modified for any class. The team that wins gets a small prize like a candy or a sticker.
Scategories
I also enjoy playing Scategories with students. Group students in small groups of 3 to 4 students and reveal on the overhead 5 categories to do with curriculum and students generate vocabulary e.g. emotions. The teachers then calls on each group and awards points for vocabulary words. Then the teachers reveals the next group of categories and on goes the game. You can also play this game by giving each group a large piece of newsprint with the vocabulary categories listed in columns. Then students are given a short time to generate as many words in each category in their groups. The teacher circulates and tallies up the totals.
Comic Life
At the bottom of my web2.0 blog http://virtualmallofknowledge.blogspot.com/ there are resources for using the software Comic Life. Many of the teachers use Comic Life to do creative writing projects It comes free with all new Mac computers and it is available now also for PCs. I have seen ESL students generate creative personal stories about their journey to Canada. Students can also generate stories with a short list of required new vocabulary.
Songs
Songs are a powerful way to introduce poetic language for students. Students can produce visual essays of new vocabulary or concepts in the song. Also students can find a variety of songs to illustrate vocabulary or concepts. Vocabulary "sticks" the more ways that students see the word in real language such as novels, songs, advertising, the Internet, etc.. and the more ways they use the word. Students who teach each other new vocabulary find that new vocabulary really sticks.
Games
There are many sites on the Internet to learn vocabulary but Quia.com is a great one and you can try it out for a 30 day trial. Check out these fun ESL shared activities from the site. There are shared activities from a myriad of subjects. Check it out: http://www.quia.com/shared/
We can look beyond the traditional vocabulary list and explore new strategies to teach vocabulary. Vocabulary needs to be taught at the same time as content.STRATEGIES TO BUILD VOCABULARY for ESL Students
Flyswatter
Separate the class into two teams and give a volunteer from each team a flyswatter. Place on the overhead projector, an overhead of vocabulary words or terms that you want to review with the students. Write the terms on the board if you don’t have a projector. This game is a great way to review concepts with students for a test and trains them to scan the overhead for the term they need. In an English 9 class, I put up an overhead of literary terms and say to the contestants “This is the term where something is being compared to something else with the word like or as”. The students run up to the board and the first one to gently hit the word smile on the overhead wins. The teacher also can create bonus marks by asking the students to give an example of a simile. This game can more cooperative by letting the students run back to their group to get help on what to hit. Students get very excited about this game and they don’t even realize that they are learning as they do it.
The Rules:
Vocabulary sticks in their minds and when they read they retain the information. Students who get restless from sitting down in class for 90 minutes enjoy the change to get up and be active. The overhead can be filled with words or with images. I use it a lot in Spanish and English classes and it can be modified for any class. The team that wins gets a small prize like a candy or a sticker.
Scategories
I also enjoy playing Scategories with students. Group students in small groups of 3 to 4 students and reveal on the overhead 5 categories to do with curriculum and students generate vocabulary e.g. emotions. The teachers then calls on each group and awards points for vocabulary words. Then the teachers reveals the next group of categories and on goes the game. You can also play this game by giving each group a large piece of newsprint with the vocabulary categories listed in columns. Then students are given a short time to generate as many words in each category in their groups. The teacher circulates and tallies up the totals.
Comic Life
At the bottom of my web2.0 blog http://virtualmallofknowledge.blogspot.com/ there are resources for using the software Comic Life. Many of the teachers use Comic Life to do creative writing projects It comes free with all new Mac computers and it is available now also for PCs. I have seen ESL students generate creative personal stories about their journey to Canada. Students can also generate stories with a short list of required new vocabulary.
Songs
Songs are a powerful way to introduce poetic language for students. Students can produce visual essays of new vocabulary or concepts in the song. Also students can find a variety of songs to illustrate vocabulary or concepts. Vocabulary "sticks" the more ways that students see the word in real language such as novels, songs, advertising, the Internet, etc.. and the more ways they use the word. Students who teach each other new vocabulary find that new vocabulary really sticks.
Games
There are many sites on the Internet to learn vocabulary but Quia.com is a great one and you can try it out for a 30 day trial. Check out these fun ESL shared activities from the site. There are shared activities from a myriad of subjects. Check it out: http://www.quia.com/shared/